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March 31, 2014

A pretty bothering consequence resulting from the vastly growing pace of football and technical skills of players over the last couple of years surely is the illegal use of arms present in somehow every modern football match at the highest level. Therefore, FIFA, UEFA and particularly national associations have targeted at toughening the detection and punishment of elbow offenses committed by players. Hence, it is the referees' responsibility to protect players in a preventive fashion and condemn this misconduct by strictly identifying and sanctioning such offenses, but also to be aware of a clear distinction between careless, reckless and elbow offenses using excessive force requiring no card, a yellow card and a red card respectively.

UEFA's Refereeing Instructors are using an understandable and actionable image (tool vs weapon) to determine this distinction that I would like to seize and combine with our interpretations:

1. 'Careless' means that the player has shown a lack of attention or consideration when making his challenge or that he acted without precaution. In the case of carelessly used arms in a duel, there is no further disciplinary sanction needed.

2. 'Reckless' means that the player has acted with complete disregard of the danger to, or consequences for, his opponent. He must be cautioned in this case. Players, who deploy their arm or elbow as a tool, are considered to have acted in a reckless manner and must receive a yellow card. In most cases, illegally used forearms lead to yellow cards.

3. 'Using excessive force' means that the player has far exceeded the necessary use of force and is in danger of injuring his opponent. In such a case, the player has to be sent off with a red card. Players, who deploy their arm or elbow as a weapon, are considered to have used excessive force and must be sent off with a red card. In most cases, illegally used elbows used with force lead to red cards.

The following clips are a compilation of several elbow offenses and illustrate that players very often use their arms in a subtle but efficient way to unfairly tackle their opponents and benefit from that, mostly when fighting for the possession of the ball in aeriel duels.

The classic example of an elbow used as a
weapon: in the World Cup 2006 match between Italy and the United
States, blue #4 deliberately and brutally tackles his opponent white #20
using his elbow as a weapon. He is correctly sent off with a red card by the referee,
who has a perfect position to detect this infringement.

A player (white #11) is continuously attacked by some opponents close to the sideline being in possession of the ball. At first, he carts out his arms and recklessly makes physical contact with red #15. The play is allowed to continue. Seconds later, white #11 continues the illegal use of his arms and hits red #8's face, making strong and deliberate physical contact with the opponent which becomes specially visible in the real pace. He therefore uses his arm as a weapon, i.e. with excessive force endangering the safety of his opponent. For this reason, the offender must be sent off with a red card. This situation could have been avoided if the referee had detected the first elbow offense and stopped play due to that. This is a perfect example of prevention that would have been needed to avoid serious infringements and injuries in the context of the illegal use of arms. In addition, the referee should be reminded that it is useful to pay attention to an adequate (and in this case shorter) distance to the player he is about to show the card and to avoid that other players are standing between him and the offender during the card showing procedure.

While being in possession of the ball, red #31 deliberately makes strong
physical elbow contact with blue #5. Indicated by a clear movement of
the elbow towards the opponent's face and a sideways step into his
direction, #31 clearly uses his arm as a weapon endangering the safety
of an opponent. He must be sent off with a red card. It is a poor signal
that the referee - fully aware of the instructions given by UEFA at the
recent seminars - fails to issue the mandatory red card for this
offense considering that his viewing angle could not have been better.

While jumping for the ball in the mid-air, yellow #11 unfairly tackles
blue #24 with his arm which is clearly carted out and used as a tool in a
reckless manner. He is correctly cautioned with a yellow card by the
referee, who is furthermore using a determined and comprehensible body
language to communicate his decision.

Two players are fighting for the possession of the ball in an aerial duel. Red #3 and Blue #7 therefore jump to reach the ball. #3 recklessly uses his clearly extended arm as a tool in this challenge and hence makes clear physical contact with the opponent's head. The referee and especially the assistant referee should be more alert to react appropiately to this situation. The offender must be cautioned with a yellow card.

After the five previously shown clips, this video is aimed at
making clear that in some cases, elbows and arms are illegally used in
an "only" careless manner. In the specific case, green #4 has got his arms
in a natural position while starting to jump. He therefore acts without
precaution but not more. The referee correctly does not caution the
offender and only awards a direct free-kick. However, it must be clear that
these situations are mostly the exceptions. Normally, the illegal use
of arms should be deemed as reckless tackles as long as the arm has not
been used as a weapon with excessive force.

Last but not least, a more debatable video example: Two players are fighting for the ball in an aerial duel.
Blue #8 jumps into his opponent Yellow #6 with a slightly extended arm
and thus makes contact with latter's cheek. It remains unsure whether
the offender has deliberately used his arm as a weapon to endanger the
safety of his opponent. If the referee has this opinion, he must send
him off with a red card. There are however also arguments in favour of a reckless use of
his arm as a tool (e.g. no clear movement of the arm towards the
opponent), which requires a yellow card. From our point of view, both
disciplinary sanctions, a yellow card and a red card are both appropiate
and defendable. According to the information we have, FIFA ruled this
decision taken by the referee as correct back in 2010.

Finally, it must be underlined that one key to a successful detection of the illegal use of arms is to have an optimum positioning and good viewing angle on the infringements. If this is guaranteed, awareness is needed. I hope that this post contributes to the latter.

You have almost managed it, just one video is missing! Sometimes, players' arms are (ab-)used as weapons - don't send them off for that, please ;)

UEFA's Referee Committee has nominated English Mark Clattenburg and Serbia's World Cup referee Milorad Mažić to take control over Wednesday's enclosing first legs of the quarterfinals of UEFA Champions League 2013/14.
Having already handled a K.O. match in (Atlético) Madrid this season, Clattenburg will now face a challenging and important task at Santiago Bernabeu where Real Madrid and Borussia Dortmund are about to meet for a remake of last year's semifinals. Serbian Milorad Mažić has been assigned to control the probably "most expensive" match between the giants from Paris and Chelsea FC.

March 30, 2014

UEFA has appointed Carlos Velasco Carballo and Felix Brych to take charge of the first two quarterfinals of this year's Champions League campaign. The Spanish World Cup 2014 match officials team thus is confirmed for Manchester Utd. - Bayern München following a public declaration issued by RFEF that he had been replaced for his original match in Spanish Primera División on Monday because of international duties.
Germany's World Cup referee Felix Brych will control the Spanish duel between FC Barcelona and Atlético Madrid in Camp Nou - and will be observed by FIFA Committee member Alfredo Trentalange, which is surely no coincidence.

March 28, 2014

One part of the recently picked 33rd team participating in FIFA World Cup 2014 met for another important seminar held in Zurich to prepare for the challenges awaiting the referees and assistant referees from Asia, Europe and Oceania in Brazil.

Remark: It is the second time that Turkish Oguz Sarvan observes this tie. Back in late 2012, he was present in Dortmund's Westfalenstadion assessing Hungarian Viktor Kassai when Dortmund beat Real with 2:1.

March 18, 2014

UEFA has appointed the following referee teams to take charge of Thursday's return legs of Europa League Round of 16. Greek Tasos Sidiropoulos will control Valencia CF - Ludogorets observed by UEFA Referee Committee member Vlado Šajn - no surprise given the circumstance that he caught our and probably also UEFA's attention by a very good development in his past matches. Same counts for Polish Szymon Marciniak. The Sevilla derby will be handled by Portuguese Pedro Proença, the Italian duel by Howard Webb. And, last but not least, the next mixed team has unfolded: Damir Skomina will be assisted by Italian Gianluca Cariolato.

March 17, 2014

UEFA has appointed Björn Kuipers and Alberto Undiano to take charge of the enclosing two return legs of this season's Champions League Round of 16. The Dutchman, who was recently elected as The Third Team's Referee of the Year 2013, will take charge of the important duel at Old Trafford where Manchester United will have to catch up a 2:0-defeat conceded in the first leg, while Alberto Undiano will control the probably decided encounter between last season's finalists Borussia Dortmund and Zenit St. Petersburg, before handling El Clásico in La Liga next weekend.

March 16, 2014

Interesting appointments for Russian Sergei Karasev and German Felix Brych: They have been assigned for respectively very important matches in UEFA Champions League: While for the Russian the decided duel between Real Madrid and Schalke 04 means another step towards a promotion to the Elite Group, Brych has got the chance to convince the committee and Roberto Rosetti at Stamford Bridge that he is a candidate for one of this season's finals besides Jonas Eriksson and Björn Kuipers.

March 10, 2014

There has been a change of this blog's header somewhen in 2012 or 2013, when the quite exaggerated title "World of Football Refereeing" became "The Third Team". It should demonstrate that we are considering referees, (additional) assistant referees and the fourth official as the third team on the field of play besides both football teams. While outstanding players such as Zlatan Ibrahimović or Cristiano Ronaldo have often enough proven that they alone can make all the difference, refereeing is no ring for lone fighters and no stage for soloists.

UEFA Referee's committee has appointed the First Category referee Ivan Bebek to handle the clash between Paris Saint-Germain and Bayer Leverkusen. After having been appointed twice in the last weeks in Europa League round of 32, the Croatian official will be at his debut in the KO stage of UEFA Champions League. Furthermore, the French Elite official Stéphane Lannoy will be the man in the middle at Camp Nou, having been assigned to the second leg of Barcelona - Manchester City clash.

Ivan Bebek, at his debut in the KO phase of UEFA Champions League (c) croatiaweek.com

March 9, 2014

UEFA Referee Committee's members responsible for referee appointments have assigned a Norwegian and an English officiating team to take charge of the first two return legs of Champions League's Round of 16: Svein Oddvar Moen will oversee the top clash between Bayern München and Arsenal FC at 2012 Champions League final's venue - for the Norwegian, it is the second time to handle this duel after last season's Round of 16 first leg in London -, whereas Mark Clattenburg will control the tense and important tie between Atlético Madrid and AC Milan.

March 3, 2014

The best piece of news of last week’s 128th annual conference of the IFAB, the body that is responsible for defining and changing the Laws of the Game and their application, has certainly been that – for now – there will not be any form of technology in football exceeding Goalline Technology (GLT) that is to be deployed at FIFA World Cup 2014 and that was first tested last year. The usage of video replays was discussed in Zurich but luckily rejected. This counts for another vitally important issue on the agenda, too: the triple punishment.

March 1, 2014

Following
an official request by UEFA, warmly supported by president Michel Platini (here
you can find the news), IFAB has discussed in today’s meetingthe opportunity to change or avert the
“Triple Punishment”.The final decision
is that nothing will change. The Triple Punishment has been confirmed,
therefore a referee will have still to send off a player in case of DOGSO. The
hope isthat a red card can occur only
in mandatory situations, nevertheless everything will remain under the full
discretion of the match officials.

Apart from
that, IFAB has also discussed further issues, deciding in this way: a player
will be banned in case of messages under his shirt (especially after a
celebration), the usage of head covers has been officially ratified,no technology on the pitch to help the
referee apart from the GLT already in use, the experiment about sin bins will
continue at amateur level.

Finally,
FIFA secretaryJérôme Valckehas stated that LotG will be changed andclarified in certain points, especially about
the discussed topics, in order to make them even more detailed.